This invention related to a toy audio device, and in particular to an audio device adapted for detachable mounting on another toy.
Application Ser. No. 07/602,150, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference, describes an audio accessory for toys such as action figures and vehicles. Various embodiments of audio accessories are given in '150 patent application for toy action figures. In one embodiment, the accessory is configured as a backpack for snap-mounting on the back of the toy action figure. The accessory carries all the components of an audio generating system including in the interior of the accessory a speaker, a printed circuit board (PCB) and circuitry thereon, and a battery, and a switch accessible from the outside for activating the audio generating system.
A presently commercially-available backpack accessory for toy action figures supplies only sound effects. That backpack accessory comprises two receptacle halves each open at one end. The two receptacle halves when joined define a single enclosure in which is mounted an audio generating system. The audio generating system includes a PCB and a speaker which are mounted in one receptacle half and three batteries which are mounted in the other receptacle half offset from the speaker and PCB. The PCB is disposed extending parallel to the face of the speaker coil offset to one side of the speaker, with the coil partially disposed in a recess in an end of the PCB. Three button-cell batteries are provided mounted axially aligned extending in a row in a battery compartment adjacent to the end of the PCB opposite the end with the recess. Push button switches for activating the audio generating system project from the rear of the backpack. The speaker faces the front of the backpack, the backpack front being adjacent the action figure when the backpack is mounted to the back thereof.
The commercially-available backpack described above has certain limitations. For use with a 33/4 inches toy action figure, the backpack is bulky and disproportional to the toy action figure in height, width and thickness. Specifically, the backpack is wider and thicker than a typical 33/4 inches action figure, and is more than half the height of a 33/4 inches action figure. The speaker is positioned to project sound out of the front of the backpack which, when the backpack is mounted to the action figure, is closely adjacent the solid back of the action figure, which can affect sound volume and quality. That commercially-available backpack generates only sound effects, and a separate control is provided to activate a single selected sound effect per control.